While Adam was killing spiders, testing his new skills and accustoming himself back to his skills only usable with the flexibility granted by the opening of the 3rd Gate, the Demon Cult Leader Max and Aemon Cult Leader Lin gathered in front of Blackheart's Cave Master, their faces cloudy like the storm.
Lin said "Cave Master…"
Unlike the two Cult Leaders, the Cave Master's face was bright like the sun. He said with a smile "What can I do for you?"
Lin replied "That Valiant Heart! He became a Sovereign! What about the assassins?"
"Speaking of this, what a tragic loss. I sent flowers to their families… I would have at if they had any. Is this why you are here? I don't know if that's appropriate though, the flowers growing in Hell… Well you know." The Cave Master said with an even brighter face, which looked like the most annoying face in the world for the two Cult Leaders.
However, no matter how angry they were, they knew better than lashing out at this seemingly harmless man. The man was feared through the entire world after all.
So they forced their anger down and Max said "We gave you such an amazing treasure Cave Master, how could you send weak assassins?"
The Cave Master shook his head and said "You didn't give me those keys, you paid with them. As such, I sent assassins whose lives were equal in value to those keys."
As he heard those words, Max began unconsciously releasing a demonic aura as he asked "If that is the case, then how could they fail!"
Despite trying his best to hold his temper, Max was unable to contain himself. That was because of his power. Max was a human at first, but he had decided to serve demons for power. While this power did make him a very strong S Legend, it was demonic in origin after all, and as such wasn't suited for him. That's why, his mind, amongst other things, had been corrupted by the power.
But Max's aura suddenly disappeared, along with his left ear. In front of him, the Cave Master said with an unusual cold voice filled with disdain "Don't corrupt this place with your dirty power, demon dog!"
Max began sweating and his ear was hurting like hell, but he didn't even dare to make a sound. Next to him, Lin looked at the Cult Leader with some glee and amusement before saying "While old Max has been disrespectful, Cave Master, he does raise a point. With the value of those keys, the assassins sent would even be able to kill someone who opened the Third Gate."
When Lin spoke, the Cave Master's face returned to its earlier countenance, and said "Indeed. I have something for you though, a recording of their fight."
Lin made a surprised face as he asked "How? This is Enya's World. I don't mean to insult you, but while I believe you can hide your assassins from her sight for some time, bringing their memories back is…"
The Cave Master explained "Indeed, it's impossible. Unless Enya's lets us."
Lin's face turned shocked as he asked "Why would she allow us to do such a thing?" The Cave Master replied "To grow, a Sovereign must face countless challenges. By sending this back, she actually made a very clever choice. You will either pressure him into a corner many times and give him those countless challenges, or just give up chasing after him."
Lin nodded, this made sense. The Cave Master waved his arm, and a screen appeared in mid air. He said "Watch this."
The struggling and dazed Max as well as Lin both turned to look at the screen, and saw the fight between Adam and the assassins. When they saw how much he struggled at first, they showed two different emotions. Max had a somber face, while Lin looked impressed.
After all, for someone who didn't open the 3rd Gate yet, Adam was able to stand against them for a very long time.
A few minutes later, they reached the moment when Adam finally opened the Gate of Limit. They expected as much, but when they saw what happened after that, their emotions went on a roller coaster.
As the video ended with the sight of Adam entering Roskhalla with the Brave Warriors, Lin and Max were too shocked to speak. Only after a few seconds did Lin ask "How? Is he the reincarnation of a god?"
The Cave Master smiled and said "I have information on him, but there is a price to everything. However, I can tell you this, he is not the reincarnation of a god."
The two looked relieved when they heard the revelation, and after some hesitation Lin said "I will pay for the information." The Cave Master nodded and turned to look at Max, who simply looked down.
The Cave Master smiled and turned back to Lin and said "What can you give me?"
Despite the Cave Master speaking out loud, Max couldn't hear anything, and only Lin was able to. He asked back "What is your price?"
The Cave Master said "I want some Netherworld Ashes." Lin nodded and with the wave of his hand he transferred what the Cave Master wanted.
The Cave Master smiled and said "As you might know, this Valiant Heart, whose real name is Adam, is one of the Otherworlders."
Lin nodded, so the Cave Master continued "The reason we know he isn't the reincarnation of a God is because of his Gates. Although he reached the peak of strength for someone in the Third Gate in an instant, he struggled to open this Gate, and after some research we concluded he didn't know how to open it."
Lin frowned and asked "But how?" The Cave Master shrugged and said "No idea." Then, the Cave Master proceeded to say everything he had learned about Adam to Lin, including his relationships, his two disciples, and his guild.
When Lin finished hearing what the Cave Master had to say, he said "You said earlier Enya gave us this recording to either push us to intensify our assaults, or give up… Against such a man, is there even a choice?"
The Cave Master smiled grimly and replied "Well, for example that prideful idiot of a demon will continue attacking because he decided his money was more important than this information. For you though…"
Lin nodded and said "Thank you for your time, it is now time for us to go." The Cave Master nodded and waved his hand, teleporting the two out of his cave. Once alone, he retrieved the recording of Adam and went back to his activities.
Meanwhile, on top of a big black mountain both Lin and Max appeared in the sky, floating. Max said with a maddened voice "That bastard dared to cut my ear!"
Lin looked at him mockingly and said "You moron." Max began releasing his demonic aura once again as red fumes swirled around his body and he said "Do you want to die old man!"
Lin rolled his eyes and said "Careful with your words, dog, or you won't live for long." After he said his piece he disappeared too, teleporting away and leaving Max on his own.
Max gritted his teeth and a pair of red and black fleshy wings appeared on his back before he too disappeared.
It didn't take long for them to reach their respective lairs, and once in his temple Lin called off all rewards on Adam's head, and sent a messenger to apologize to Adam. Moreover, Adam was to never be antagonized, and he made all his cultists memorize his face so that they wouldn't find trouble with him.
At the same time, Max did the opposite, and sent orders to his cultists. Adam was to be killed at any cost, and he also made his cultists memorize his face, but so that if any of them saw him they could kill him.
While all of this happened, Adam had almost finished his run on the Hardcore difficulty, he had killed every Common, Elite and the mini boss Chieftain monster.
Now, he was standing in front of the door leading to the final boss, who was most probably going to be a Lord, and so he decided to first recover his health and aura before going in.